While progress is being made, there is still significant work to be done. 17,000 students in Dallas County on average are not meeting key benchmarks.

86%

Pre-k enrollment

4,331students

55%

Kindergarten Readiness

16,343students

38%

3rd Grade Reading

23,637students

34%

4th Grade Math

24,141students

41%

8th Grade Science

19,415students

42%

Algebra 1

21,676students

14%

College Readiness

24,208students

85%

High School Graduation

4,515students

61%

Postsecondary Enrollment

11,072students

47%

Postsecondary Persistence

14,859students

27%

Postsecondary Completion

18,167students

Percentages represent students meeting key benchmarks in Dallas County in 2016. Roll over each percentage for the number of students not meeting key benchmarks in 2016.

The 2016 Dallas County Scorecard

Our 11 cradle-to-career indicators measure achievement at important milestones along this journey to serve as clear markers of our community’s progress in collectively supporting all children to achieve their full potential.

PK Enrollment

Quality early learning for all children can change the economic outcome of our community in one generation. When we ensure that all students receive the best education, from the very beginning, we set them up for success for the rest of their lives.

90% of the brain is developed by the time a person is five years old. – Zero to Three® National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families

Research shows a strong correlation between quality early learning and regional prosperity and for every $1 invested in early childhood a community saves $7 in long-term costs such as educational remediation, criminal justice, and welfare. – James Heckman, 2008, “Schools, Skills, and Synapsis

Number of eligible students is calculated by estimating the number of eligible 1st graders using the campus economically disadvantaged rate. 1st grade is the first year children are required to attend school in Texas and vast majority of students in Pre-K meet eligibility requirements through economically disadvantaged status.

Free Pre-K Eligibility: A student is considered eligible for Pre-K if they meet any of the following criteria:

Children who were Kindergarten Ready in the Fall of 2011 in DISD were 3.2 times more likely to meet the postsecondary readiness benchmark 4 years later on the 3rd grade reading STAAR assessment in DISD. – Dallas ISD English reading assessments for Fall of 2011 and STAAR assessments for Fall of 2015.

Kindergarten Ready: The percent of students deemed Kindergarten Ready in the county based on the assessments administered at the beginning of the year in Kindergarten. The assessment and the measure vary by district but must be chosen from the approved list provided by the Texas Education Agency. Independent School Districts providing Fall 2015 data include: Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Cedar Hill, Coppell, Dallas, DeSoto, Duncanville, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, Irving, Lancaster, Mesquite, Richardson, and Uplift Education. For Dallas County count of students, rate applied to all Kindergarteners.

3rd Grade Reading

In the early grades, children begin to transition from learning to read to reading to learn. At these grade levels, the reading curriculum becomes more complex in both meaning and vocabulary. Historically, teachers and researchers have noticed that most children’s growth in reading skills tends to stall at third or fourth grade.

Early grade reading is a particularly crucial milestone, as basic reading skills are being reached and measured. Though state indicators for grade level reading vary, data shows that disparities in literacy during the early grades are linked to persistent achievement gaps. If children are behind by third grade, they generally stay behind throughout school. – Schorr, Lisbeth, and Marchand, Vicky. 2007. Pathway to Children Ready for School and Succeeding at Third Grade. Cambridge: Project on Effective Interventions at Harvard University.

One longitudinal study found that students who do not read at grade level by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school than proficient readers. – Hernandez, Donald. 2011. Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation. New York: Foundation for Child Development and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Reading at grade level is one of the strongest predictors of later success in school. Students at or above grade level reading in earlier grades graduate from high school and attend college at higher rates than peers reading below grade level. – Lesnick, Joy et al. 2010. Reading on Grade Level in Third Grade: How Is It Related to High School Performance and College Enrollment? Chicago: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

4th Grade Math

Elementary math lays the foundation for all future mathematics, as students need a stronger understanding of arithmetic and finite number sets to effectively tackle more complex concepts, such as algebra and infinite number sets.

Research indicates that an early understanding of math concepts is the most powerful predictor of later school success. Early Math skills were found to be more predictive of later reading ability than early reading skills. – Duncan et al. 2007. School Readiness and Later Achievement. Developmental Psychology 43(6):1428 –1446.

Knowledge of fractions and division uniquely predicts subsequent knowledge of Algebra and overall math achievement more than four years later. – Psychology Science, July 2012. Early Predictors of High School Mathematics Achievement.

Research has shown that students in the lowest quartile of math achievement at ages 6, 8, and 10 are less likely to attend college than students who struggle in other subjects. – Magnuson et al. 2009, Early School Adjustment and High School Dropout. SRCD.

8th Grade Science

A strong foundation in math and science at the middle school level can dramatically impact future workforce opportunity.

According to the U. S. Department of Commerce, STEM occupations are growing at 17%, while others are growing at 9.8%. – Why STEM Education is Important for Everyone. Science Pioneers.

Health care workers with associate degrees to doctors of medicine will average 20% more in lifetime earnings than peers with similar degrees in non-health care. – Why STEM Education is Important for Everyone. Science Pioneers.

According to the U.S. Labor Department, 10 of the fastest growing occupations require science and math. – Why STEM Education is Important for Everyone. Science Pioneers.

According to a report by the website STEMconnector.org, by 2018, projections estimate the need for 8.65 million workers in STEM-related jobs. – What is STEM Education? www.livescience.com

At all levels of education attainment, STEM job holders earn 11% higher wages compared with their counterparts in other jobs. – National Governors Association, December 2011. “Building a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education Agenda”

Algebra 1

Middle grade math has become an important milestone for high school persistence, academic achievement, college attainment, and general preparedness for the workforce.

Basic algebra has been referred to as the “gatekeeper subject” because of its correlation to both college and career success. Taking algebra in middle school opens the gateway to completing advanced mathematics courses in high school which, in turn, is highly valued for admission to many four-year colleges and universities. – American Institutes for Research. (2006). The Gateway to Student Success in Mathematics and Science.

Approximately 23% of entering college freshmen fail placement tests for college level math courses and are placed in non-credit-bearing remedial courses. – Achieve. 2006. Do All Students Need Challenging Math in High School? Washington, D.C.: Achieve.

Economists estimate that if the U.S. could raise math proficiency to Canadian levels, economic growth would improve by 1.5% annual and over the long run add $75 trillion to the U.S. GDP. – Hanushek, Eric and Peterson, Paul. January 2012. Math Matters. Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

College Readiness

SAT/ACT exams administered in the 11th and 12th grade help determine a student’s likelihood to succeed in college-level work. As nationally normed tests, these indicators allow our community to compare the progress of our school systems against those from around the country.

58 percent of students who do not require remediation upon entering college ultimately earn a bachelor’s degree, compared to only 17 percent of students enrolled in remedial reading and 27 percent of students enrolled in remedial math. – National Center for Education Statistics, “The condition of education 2004, indicator 18: Remediation and degree completion,” Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Education (2004).

A strong correlation exists between SAT/ACT scores and first year college GPA and retention rates; SAT/ACT scores also help identify the need for remedial work. – Patterson, B., & Mattern, K. (2011) Validity of the SAT for predicting first-year grades; The College Board

The three year graduation rate at Texas community colleges for full time students requiring remedial work is only 10 percent. – Complete College America, 2013. “Complete College Texas: Is Texas utilizing Game Change strategies to boost college completion? Not fully.”

College Ready: The percent of students who graduated from high school in 2015, who took the SAT or ACT, and who scored at least a 24 on the ACT or 1110 on the SAT (reading and math). Per the Texas Education Agency Texas Academic Performance Reports. Scores of at least a 24 on the ACT and 1110 on the SAT translate to a high likelihood of receiving a B- or C+ grade or better in higher education.

High School Graduation

High school graduation is associated with higher earnings, college attendance and graduation, and other measures of personal and social welfare. As college education increasingly becomes a necessity for upward mobility, graduating more students from high school is critical.

Over a lifetime, high school graduates earn 33% more over their lifetime than those who drop out. – Carnevale, Anthony. Nicole Smith and Jeff Strohl. Georgetown University, 2013. “Recovery: Job Growth and Education Requirements Through 2020”

Unemployment rates for high school dropouts are higher than high school graduates. In 2012, approximately 12 percent of individuals who dropped out of high school were unemployed, compared to the national average of 8.1percent. – U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

If the number of high school dropouts in the 50 largest U.S. cities were cut in half, the extra earnings of those high school graduates would add up to $4.1 billion per year. High school dropout rates also correlate strongly with poverty; high school dropouts are almost twice as likely to live in poverty as high school graduates. – Curran, Bridget, and Reyna, Ryan. 2009. Implementing Graduation Counts: State Progress to Date. Washington, D.C.: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices.

College Enrollment

Postsecondary enrollment marks one of the critical transitions in the cradle to career pipeline. Low-income students and students of color are less likely to pursue education beyond high school.

Research has shown that “low income students, even those with high academic performance levels, are less likely to enroll in college, more likely to attend two year colleges when they do enroll, and less likely to apply to more selective institutions compared to their more advantaged peers with similar academic preparation.” – National Student Clearinghouse. Tracking the Road to College Success: Inaugural National High School Benchmarks Report, https://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/HighSchoolBenchmarks2013.pdf

All education beyond high school is valuable, be it career certificates or two-year, four-year-degrees. Postsecondary Enrollment: The percent of students who graduated from high school in 2015 and enrolled in a postsecondary institution within one year after graduation. Fall 2016 National Student Clearinghouse Reports provided by Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Dallas, DeSoto, Duncanville, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, Irving, Lancaster, Mesquite, Richardson, and Uplift Education. Coppell’s class of 2014 included in this year’s data with the Dallas County reduction in enrollment applied.

College Persistence

Often students begin higher education with strong ideals but the transition proves very difficult. Supporting students during this critical period is essential for improving degree attainment.

Nearly 5 in 10 low-income students who do not complete their college degrees leave after their first year of college or leave as a result of their experiences during that year (Syracuse University, 2004. Access without Support is Not Opportunity: Rethinking the First Year of College for Low-Income Students.) and as many as 1 in 3 students nationally do not return for their second year of college (U.S. News and World Report, https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/freshmen-least-most-likely-return )

Slightly over 1.5 million first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students began their undergraduate careers at four-year colleges and universities in the fall of 2006. However, only four in ten (39 percent) actually achieved their goal of earning a bachelor’s degree within four years, and six in ten (59.2 percent) completed their degrees within six years. – 2013 Digest of Education Statistics. National Center for Education Statistics

Of the 857,607 first-time students who enrolled at two-year public institutions in fall 2007, only 26.5% completed degrees or certificates from their starting institution within six years. – Completing College: A National View of Student Attainment Rates, Fall 2007 Cohort. National Student Clearinghouse

Postsecondary First- Year Persistence: The percent of students who graduated from high school in 2014, enrolled in a postsecondary institution within one year after graduation and enrolled for a second year. Fall 2016 National Student Clearinghouse data available for Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Dallas, DeSoto, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, Irving, Mesquite, Richardson, and Uplift Education.

College Completion

Postsecondary degrees are more valuable than ever. The benefits of postsecondary education span across social and economic domains.

An associate or bachelor’s degree holder earns on average $442,000-$1,051,000 more over a 40-year career than a high school graduate. – Census Salary: Synthetic Work-Life Earnings by Educational Attainment

Society benefits from a more educated population, including: lower instances of child abuse, lower rates of criminal behavior, and fewer teen pregnancies among children of college-educated parents. – Riddell, W. Craig. 2006. The Impact of Education on Economic and Social Outcomes: An Overview of Recent Advances in Economics. Vancouver: University of British Columbia.

Postsecondary Completion: The percent of students who graduated from high school in 2010 and obtained a postsecondary degree six years after high school graduation. Fall 2016 National Student Clearinghouse data available for Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Dallas, DeSoto, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, Irving, Mesquite, Richardson, and Uplift Education.

A Pattern Emerges In a County Divided

Looking at Dallas County through the lenses of race, income, employment, and educational attainment demonstrates an unmistakable pattern. The correlation between these four factors is clear, and the impact of concentration in particular neighborhoods is having significant consequences. For those residing in neighborhoods of historical disinvestment, the possibility of escaping the cycle is drastically reduced compared to other neighborhoods. These divisions and disparities hold us all back.

Demographics and Enrollment Changes

Understanding how enrollment across Dallas County has changed over the past 5 years helps provide additional context for understanding the challenges we face as a community in providing an equitable and excellent education for all students.

Enrollment

Equity in Dallas County

Achieving equity in education starts with understanding the systems that contribute to the significant educational achievement gaps. We’ve provided you with a view into two different ends of the spectrum - the disproportionate representation of particular groups of students in suspension and in advanced placement classes.

Commit!’s Cradle to Career Priority Areas

Commit! has developed three priority areas of focus that align with efforts to impact our 11 indicators. Dig in to each story to better understand the work being done to impact educational outcomes across the county.

Why It Matters

Quality early learning for all children can change the economic outcome of our community in one generation. Scientific evidence shows a strong correlation between quality early learning and regional prosperity and for every $1 invested in early childhood a community saves $7 in long-term costs such as educational remediation, criminal justice, and welfare. When we ensure that all of our students receive the best education possible, from the very beginning, we set them up for success for the rest of their lives.

PK Enrollment

Quality early learning for all children can change the economic outcome of our community in one generation. When we ensure that all students receive the best education, from the very beginning, we set them up for success for the rest of their lives.

90% of the brain is developed by the time a person is five years old. – Zero to Three® National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families

Research shows a strong correlation between quality early learning and regional prosperity and for every $1 invested in early childhood a community saves $7 in long-term costs such as educational remediation, criminal justice, and welfare. – James Heckman, 2008, “Schools, Skills, and Synapsis

Number of eligible students is calculated by estimating the number of eligible 1st graders using the campus economically disadvantaged rate. 1st grade is the first year children are required to attend school in Texas and vast majority of students in Pre-K meet eligibility requirements through economically disadvantaged status.

Free Pre-K Eligibility: A student is considered eligible for Pre-K if they meet any of the following criteria:

Children who were Kindergarten Ready in the Fall of 2011 in DISD were 3.2 times more likely to meet the postsecondary readiness benchmark 4 years later on the 3rd grade reading STAAR assessment in DISD. – Dallas ISD English reading assessments for Fall of 2011 and STAAR assessments for Fall of 2015.

Kindergarten Ready: The percent of students deemed Kindergarten Ready in the county based on the assessments administered at the beginning of the year in Kindergarten. The assessment and the measure vary by district but must be chosen from the approved list provided by the Texas Education Agency. Independent School Districts providing Fall 2015 data include: Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Cedar Hill, Coppell, Dallas, DeSoto, Duncanville, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, Irving, Lancaster, Mesquite, Richardson, and Uplift Education. For Dallas County count of students, rate applied to all Kindergarteners.

3rd Grade Reading

In the early grades, children begin to transition from learning to read to reading to learn. At these grade levels, the reading curriculum becomes more complex in both meaning and vocabulary. Historically, teachers and researchers have noticed that most children’s growth in reading skills tends to stall at third or fourth grade.

Early grade reading is a particularly crucial milestone, as basic reading skills are being reached and measured. Though state indicators for grade level reading vary, data shows that disparities in literacy during the early grades are linked to persistent achievement gaps. If children are behind by third grade, they generally stay behind throughout school. – Schorr, Lisbeth, and Marchand, Vicky. 2007. Pathway to Children Ready for School and Succeeding at Third Grade. Cambridge: Project on Effective Interventions at Harvard University.

One longitudinal study found that students who do not read at grade level by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school than proficient readers. – Hernandez, Donald. 2011. Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation. New York: Foundation for Child Development and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Reading at grade level is one of the strongest predictors of later success in school. Students at or above grade level reading in earlier grades graduate from high school and attend college at higher rates than peers reading below grade level. – Lesnick, Joy et al. 2010. Reading on Grade Level in Third Grade: How Is It Related to High School Performance and College Enrollment? Chicago: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

Quality Childcare

HUMAN CAPITAL

6,822 Dallas County teaching positions had to be filled this year due to teacher turnover. That paired with a decrease in the number of new teachers entering the profession is creating a critical shortage of effective teachers in our classrooms.

Educators represent the single largest budgetary investments of any school district, and the level of preparation and support educators receive directly correlates to student learning and success.

Why It Matters

Dallas faces several challenging headwinds regarding its educator pipeline. Some of these challenges include a decrease in the number of students interested in entering the teaching profession, high teacher turnover rates—resulting in increased demands and financial burdens on school systems,
and an increasing number of teacher candidates receiving insufficient preparation.

Human Capital

Richard Ingersoll, Lisa Merrill, and Henry May, What Are the Effects of Teacher Education and Preparation on Beginning Teacher Attrition? Consortium for Policy Research in Education, CPRE Report (#RR-82) (2014).

PostSecondary Completion

fewer dallas county students enrolled in postsecondary education this year, and even fewer graduated.

Why It Matters

Completing some level of education beyond high school is necessary to earn a living-wage job and escape poverty. Without pursuing postsecondary education, half of the children born into poverty will remain poor as adults. But for those with a college degree, only 1 in 6 children born into poverty will remain poor. Yet, only 35% of Dallas County adults hold a 2- or 4-year degree. And only 28% of 2009 Dallas County high school graduates earned a postsecondary credential – meaning nearly 17,000 students did not receive a credential. Unless more students, particularly our Hispanic and black students, access and complete credentials in high-demand fields, our regional economy will experience a significant talent shortage.

College Readiness

SAT/ACT exams administered in the 11th and 12th grade help determine a student’s likelihood to succeed in college-level work. As nationally normed tests, these indicators allow our community to compare the progress of our school systems against those from around the country.

58 percent of students who do not require remediation upon entering college ultimately earn a bachelor’s degree, compared to only 17 percent of students enrolled in remedial reading and 27 percent of students enrolled in remedial math. – National Center for Education Statistics, “The condition of education 2004, indicator 18: Remediation and degree completion,” Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Education (2004).

A strong correlation exists between SAT/ACT scores and first year college GPA and retention rates; SAT/ACT scores also help identify the need for remedial work. – Patterson, B., & Mattern, K. (2011) Validity of the SAT for predicting first-year grades; The College Board

The three year graduation rate at Texas community colleges for full time students requiring remedial work is only 10 percent. – Complete College America, 2013. “Complete College Texas: Is Texas utilizing Game Change strategies to boost college completion? Not fully.”

College Ready: The percent of students who graduated from high school in 2015, who took the SAT or ACT, and who scored at least a 24 on the ACT or 1110 on the SAT (reading and math). Per the Texas Education Agency Texas Academic Performance Reports. Scores of at least a 24 on the ACT and 1110 on the SAT translate to a high likelihood of receiving a B- or C+ grade or better in higher education.

High School Graduation

High school graduation is associated with higher earnings, college attendance and graduation, and other measures of personal and social welfare. As college education increasingly becomes a necessity for upward mobility, graduating more students from high school is critical.

Over a lifetime, high school graduates earn 33% more over their lifetime than those who drop out. – Carnevale, Anthony. Nicole Smith and Jeff Strohl. Georgetown University, 2013. “Recovery: Job Growth and Education Requirements Through 2020”

Unemployment rates for high school dropouts are higher than high school graduates. In 2012, approximately 12 percent of individuals who dropped out of high school were unemployed, compared to the national average of 8.1percent. – U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

If the number of high school dropouts in the 50 largest U.S. cities were cut in half, the extra earnings of those high school graduates would add up to $4.1 billion per year. High school dropout rates also correlate strongly with poverty; high school dropouts are almost twice as likely to live in poverty as high school graduates. – Curran, Bridget, and Reyna, Ryan. 2009. Implementing Graduation Counts: State Progress to Date. Washington, D.C.: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices.

College Enrollment

Postsecondary enrollment marks one of the critical transitions in the cradle to career pipeline. Low-income students and students of color are less likely to pursue education beyond high school.

Research has shown that “low income students, even those with high academic performance levels, are less likely to enroll in college, more likely to attend two year colleges when they do enroll, and less likely to apply to more selective institutions compared to their more advantaged peers with similar academic preparation.” – National Student Clearinghouse. Tracking the Road to College Success: Inaugural National High School Benchmarks Report, https://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/HighSchoolBenchmarks2013.pdf

All education beyond high school is valuable, be it career certificates or two-year, four-year-degrees. Postsecondary Enrollment: The percent of students who graduated from high school in 2015 and enrolled in a postsecondary institution within one year after graduation. Fall 2016 National Student Clearinghouse Reports provided by Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Dallas, DeSoto, Duncanville, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, Irving, Lancaster, Mesquite, Richardson, and Uplift Education. Coppell’s class of 2014 included in this year’s data with the Dallas County reduction in enrollment applied.

College Persistence

Often students begin higher education with strong ideals but the transition proves very difficult. Supporting students during this critical period is essential for improving degree attainment.

Nearly 5 in 10 low-income students who do not complete their college degrees leave after their first year of college or leave as a result of their experiences during that year (Syracuse University, 2004. Access without Support is Not Opportunity: Rethinking the First Year of College for Low-Income Students.) and as many as 1 in 3 students nationally do not return for their second year of college (U.S. News and World Report, https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/freshmen-least-most-likely-return )

Slightly over 1.5 million first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students began their undergraduate careers at four-year colleges and universities in the fall of 2006. However, only four in ten (39 percent) actually achieved their goal of earning a bachelor’s degree within four years, and six in ten (59.2 percent) completed their degrees within six years. – 2013 Digest of Education Statistics. National Center for Education Statistics

Of the 857,607 first-time students who enrolled at two-year public institutions in fall 2007, only 26.5% completed degrees or certificates from their starting institution within six years. – Completing College: A National View of Student Attainment Rates, Fall 2007 Cohort. National Student Clearinghouse

Postsecondary First- Year Persistence: The percent of students who graduated from high school in 2014, enrolled in a postsecondary institution within one year after graduation and enrolled for a second year. Fall 2016 National Student Clearinghouse data available for Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Dallas, DeSoto, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, Irving, Mesquite, Richardson, and Uplift Education.

College Completion

Postsecondary degrees are more valuable than ever. The benefits of postsecondary education span across social and economic domains.

An associate or bachelor’s degree holder earns on average $442,000-$1,051,000 more over a 40-year career than a high school graduate. – Census Salary: Synthetic Work-Life Earnings by Educational Attainment

Society benefits from a more educated population, including: lower instances of child abuse, lower rates of criminal behavior, and fewer teen pregnancies among children of college-educated parents. – Riddell, W. Craig. 2006. The Impact of Education on Economic and Social Outcomes: An Overview of Recent Advances in Economics. Vancouver: University of British Columbia.

Postsecondary Completion: The percent of students who graduated from high school in 2010 and obtained a postsecondary degree six years after high school graduation. Fall 2016 National Student Clearinghouse data available for Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Dallas, DeSoto, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, Irving, Mesquite, Richardson, and Uplift Education.